


Child's Play

by Kerry_0506



Category: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
Genre: De-Aged, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-22
Updated: 2012-01-24
Packaged: 2017-10-29 22:51:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/325059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kerry_0506/pseuds/Kerry_0506
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Benji finds himself playing 'dad' to three toddlers who wind up in his care. This should be a cinch with his teammates to help, right? Not when his teammates ARE the toddlers. And this is only the start of the tech's worries.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so I've seen a few of these around on different fandoms and they have turned out well, fingers crossed I can do ok with this…
> 
> The idea belongs to my friend, I'm merely writing the fic. I hope it turns out good enough for you, my dear!
> 
> Still don't own the characters. Shame…. :( lol

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Ok, guys, you're almost there. Turn left in 10 meters." Benji rolled the instructions off his tongue as he sat in the monitor room of the laboratory watching the teams every move. "That's it, now take the third door on your right; should be a stairwell."

The mission was relatively easy; prevent a coveted scientist from finalising his newest substance before he could wreak havoc across America. IMF hadn't disclosed what said substance was to be used for, but if they had been sent to stop him, they knew it couldn't be good. Benji watched as Jane, Brandt and Ethan made their way to the stairwell and instructed them to descend. That would take them into the main part of the lab and where they would hopefully find the scientist. He saw them reach the lab and sat, mesmerised as they slowly entered the large room. He was so distracted, however that he didn't hear a guard enter the room until it was too late. The guard lifted a knife, ready to plunge it into Benji's back, but the tech noticed his reflection in a monitor and managed to move just in time, bringing his fist up to hit the man while he was still behind him.

 _Thank you Rafiki. _Benji thought back to his favourite childish weakness as he scrambled off the chair and threw a punch at the man, catching his right cheek. The man countered this with a kick to Benji's stomach and, when the technician keeled forward on the impact, he brought his fist upwards, snapping Benji's jaw back. The agent fell backwards, spinning with the hopes of breaking his fall, however that turned out to be a bad idea when his forehead came down hard on the console in front of the monitors. That was going to leave a bruise. He tumbled to the ground and began to roll, finding his bag quickly. Feeling the cool metal of his gun on the palm of his hand, he spun onto his back and pulled the trigger, moving out of the way as the man's body hit the ground with a ridiculous thud. After taking a few seconds to catch his breath, he dashed to his feet and checked the monitors, bringing one hand up to touch his sensitive forehead.__

 _Where are they? _He began to panic when he couldn't see any of his teammates on the screens, his eyes darting from monitor to monitor with the hope of catching a glimpse of one of them.__

Nothing.

 _Shit… _Benji began to worry, shifting his gaze to the dead body on the ground beneath him. He hoped that the team hadn't bumped into another one of these goons.__

"Come on, come on, come on, come on…" he whispered at the screens, begging one of them to show his friends. Suddenly, there was a loud bang as the door burst open behind him. He spun, weapon at the ready, prepared to shoot.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Ethan held up his arms. Once Benji realised that he wasn't about to be attacked again and felt his legs give out slightly, letting himself fall into the chair behind him. Jane approached him and studied the already growing bruise on his forehead.

"Are you ok?" she asked, helping him back to his feet.

"Yeah, but I thought you guys were goners. I got a little distracted by my buddy here and when I got back to the computer I couldn't see you anywhere." Benji flailed his arms about as he spoke, regretting it when he felt slightly dizzy. Once he had steadied himself, he turned to Ethan and Brandt. "How did you go?"

"Well, the target wasn't prepared to come quietly." Brandt explained, holding up his bandaged hand to show the tech.

"What happened?" Benji tilted his head to the side as he looked at the injury.

"Bastard pulled a knife on us. Managed to stab me with it."

Benji had always wondered what it felt like to be stabbed, but now wasn't the time to ask. He made a mental note before motioning for them to continue. Ethan spoke this time.

"We tried to restrain him, but he wasn't prepared to go down without a fight. He would have killed Jane if it hadn't been for the balcony behind him." Benji could picture the scientist's broken body lying on the lower level of the laboratory and shuddered at the image. "We succeeded in attaining a sample of the substance; we should get that to IMF ASAP." Benji nodded at Ethan before grabbing his bag and followed his team outside. Once they were in the van, the technician jumped into the driver's seat and turned the engine over.

"How are we gonna get the sample to IMF?" he asked, glancing in the rear view mirror; he could see Jane re-bandaging Brandt's hand and noticed that the wound looked painful. Wincing, he brought his eyes back to the road and waited for the response.

"I've called in and I'm heading in tomorrow morning. Let's get back to the hotel. We should get some rest for now; you especially, seeing as Jane thinks you've got a concussion."

 _Great, another concussion. _Benji thought to himself, rolling his eyes. He hoped it wasn't as bad as the last one he received. Sighing, he continued the drive back to the hotel and the group tried their best to make their way through the lobby without drawing attention to themselves. It was kind of hard hiding their not-so-perfect appearances and both Brandt and Benji's injuries, but they quickly made their way up to their room. Almost as soon as they stepped inside, Brandt approached the sofa and promptly let himself fall forwards onto it.__

With a small "ahhhh" he snuggled himself down and was asleep before the rest of the team had even settled in properly.

"Well, I guess he's sleeping there tonight…" commented Benji, who had been relegated to that spot the previous night. As he stared at the sleeping analyst, he felt Ethan's hand on his shoulder.

"You have the double bed, Benj. Jane and I will take the twin room. You need a good rest."

Benji smiled at him as he disappeared into the other room before turning to Jane.

"You did good today, Benji. Great work." She gave him a pat on the back and grabbed her bags, following the older agent and leaving Benji alone, save for the now snoring Brandt. Picking up a pillow which the other man had knocked onto the floor in his dramatic flop, Benji threw it at his friend, only succeeding in drawing a small groan from him before he rolled onto his side and relaxed again.

Benji was half tempted to reposition him and leave him sucking on his thumb; it was only fair for the "I love men." that Brandt had immaturely scribbled across his face in permanent marker during their last mission. Benji was usually a light sleeper, but that time he had been drugged while undercover had the sedative had knocked him out for a good twelve hours, much to the analyst's amusement. He gave a scoff and shook his head before grabbing his things and heading into his room.

The calm after the storm.

Or so he thought.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Toot toot, chugga chugga, big red car. We travel near and we travel far…"

 _Jesus… What the… _Benji struggled to open his eyes at the noise and glanced at his watch.__

7:18am.

 _You've gotta be kidding me… _he rolled onto his back and let out a frustrated breath before sitting upright. Grappling around, still half asleep, he soon found his t-shirt and pulled it over his head with a sigh. Someone was gonna pay. He got to his feet and staggered into the main living area in search of the source of the evil sound. He automatically knew it was another of Brandt's practical jokes; the pair had a love/hate kind of friendship, where the level of the prank determined their affection for each other.__

This was currently taking the cake. Brandt _knew _Benji wasn't a morning person.__

As he reached the dining area, which was the closest to his room, he began to cross it, noticing the cereal strewn across the kitchen counter along with little puddles of milk near them.

"Oh come on…" Benji whined, knowing that he'd end up cleaning it up. Following the path of fallen Marshmallow Pebbles, he finally arrived at the lounge. "Brandt, what the hell is wr-" his sentence trailed off, however, when he saw who was watching the television program.

"Hey Benji!" an enthusiastic boy looked up at the technician, with a breakfast spoon sticking out of his mouth and a cheeky smile plastered across his face.

"Who… What?"

"Oh, Benji. Don't be like that!" the boy grinned. He had blue-green eyes, brown spikey hair and looked an awful lot like…

"Br… Brandt?" Benji rubbed his hands over his eyes; his concussion must have been worse than Jane initially thought for him to be imagining this.

Jane.

He rushed to the twin room, hoping that either she or Ethan would have an explanation of what was going on.

"Uh, guys…" he opened the door, but immediately froze on the spot. Sitting on the left bed was a young girl, only about 5 years old, her arms folded across her chest and a frown decorating her small features. She thrust her arm to the side and pointed to the bed on the right.

"Ethan threw something at me." She whinged. Benji followed where her finger was directed and saw another small boy, floppy brown hair falling over his face as he held his hands up in protest.

"Did not! Stop lying Jane!"

Benji stood, mouth hanging open in utter shock.

"You'll catch flies like that, Benji." Jane gave a scarily childish giggle as Ethan began to laugh at his expression.

He knew it was a mixture of the shock and his concussion, but Benji felt his legs give way. He was out cold before he hit the floor.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	2. Chapter 2

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

“Stop doing that, William.”

“Doing what?”

“Just put the pen down.”

“Fine, killjoy.”

Benji felt something cold and wet on his forehead, leading him to slowly try to open his eyes. Had he imagined it all? Maybe he just passed out due to the concussion and would wake up surrounded by his _adult _teammates. Or maybe he’d been kidnapped; maybe this was some sick game and his captor was trying to send him crazy. It could have just been some crazy dream.__

But when he opened his eyes, all of those theories were disproved. He was lying in the kitchen now; he must have been dragged there while he was still unconscious. Blinking a few times, he looked up to the person who was kneeling over his face. It was the little girl from earlier and she was dabbing his forehead with a cloth.

“Hi Benji. I was getting worried you weren’t going to wake up!” she said, the relief clear in her voice.

“Uh…” he said, sitting up quickly; he regretted it quickly, however, when his head began to spin so he slid backwards and rested his back against the kitchen cupboard.

“Look, Benji…” the voice was that of a boy. Benji looked up to see the floppy haired child approaching – the one that claimed to be Ethan. “You’re probably like, super freaked out right now. How’d ya think we feel?”

“What the fu-” he cut himself off, not really wanting to use that particular phrase in front of children. “What on earth is going on?”

“We think we breathed in some of that stuff yesterday.” Now the mini-Brandt appeared. “When we were at that crazy dude’s lab.” His voice was younger, yet it was so Brandt. Benji shook his head, still struggling to believe what was happening.

“This must be what the stuff was going to be used for.” Ethan spoke up again, sitting down on the floor opposite the tech.

“What, turning people into children?” Benji finally found his voice again, going along with what they were saying despite still feeling apprehensive.

“I guess…” Jane sat, fiddling with the cloth. He noticed that they were all wearing their own shirts, but were swamped in them. Suddenly, a thought hit him.

“Ethan…” he turned to the boy, still unsure of the situation.

“Yeah?”

“What about your meeting at IMF?”

“Oh man…” the mini-Ethan whined. Benji had to hold back a laugh. It was funny hearing his friend – who was several years older than him – sounding like such a child.

“Wait, maybe that’s a good idea.” Benji crossed his legs where he sat, glancing between the three children. “If I go in and take you with me, we can show IMF what the substance does and hopefully they can come up with an antidote.” He couldn’t believe what he was saying. Mind you, he still didn’t quite believe that he was currently talking to five year old versions of his team, but whatever. If he really was going crazy, he might as well go with it all the way. He stood up and looked at the kids. “Alright, stay here while I get changed and we’ll head in.” before he left, he turned back to Brandt. “And no messing around, I’m warning you.” He watched the child sulk before heading into the room, smirking at himself.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Benji changed into his jeans and t-shirt, hoping that he’d find the apartment in the same state as it had been. Fortunately, he found all three children sitting on the sofa waiting for him to be ready. He was impressed.

“Ok, guys, let’s go.” He grabbed his jacket from the table and the group exited the room. He hoped that they could get through the lobby without being noticed. If Benji had thought they stuck out the previous night, he dreaded to think of how they would look now. To his relief, the only attention the team drew were a few “awwww’s” from females passing by as they headed to the car.

 _They must think I’m their dad… _he mused as they passed another group of women who smiled and cooed at the children. He noted how each of his friends reacted. Jane smiled at them and Ethan looked kind of disgusted. But it was Brandt that made him laugh the most. He was lapping up the attention, shooting ‘adorable’ grins and waving. Gosh, he really was the ladies’ man, even as a toddler. Benji rolled his eyes and grabbed his hand, resulting in a whine from his teammate. Once whey reached the van, he started to worry. He had no secure seating for children in this vehicle.__

 _Crap. _He sucked in a deep breath before deciding to risk it. Lifting one child at a time, he placed them into the back of the van, telling them to be careful and hold on tight.__

“We will, we will…” Brandt retorted.

“Guys, seriously, you’re not adults anymore. You’re gonna move around the van a lot easier.”

“Yeah, especially with _you _driving.” Brandt snickered and Benji had to hold back from smacking the back of his head. He could do that when his friend was an adult, but if anyone saw him do it now they’d scream abuse. He sighed and gave the boy a stern look before shutting the doors and heading to the driver’s door.__

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The drive to IMF had never felt so draining; between watching the road and trying to prevent the boys from fighting in the back, Benji was exhausted by the time he reached their destination. When he opened the back doors, he glared at Brandt and Ethan, who immediately stopped what they were doing (except for the final jab Brandt gave to Ethan’s arm). Benji reached out and lifted Jane into his arms, throwing her over his hip as he helped the boys out of the van before they headed inside.

“Benji?” Luther caught sight of the group and the tech would have laughed at their friend’s reaction had it not been for the seriousness of the situation. “Whose are the kids?”

Benji sighed as he approached the man. “Meet agents Hunt, Cater and Brandt. Point five versions.”

“What the… How the hell?”

“Long story.” Benji fumbled around, trying to grab the sample from his satchel without dropping Jane. “Can you get this off to the labs to be tested.” Luther nodded before collaring a young technician and explaining what he had to do.

He then motioned for Benji to walk with him. “Let’s talk.”

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	3. Chapter 3

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

“Wait, let me get this straight…” Luther watched the three children sit talking to each other and turned back to Benji. “So this gas that they breathed in yesterday has turned them into children.”

“Correct.” Benji sighed and took a sip of his drink.

“So now you’re stuck with kid versions of your team and you have no clue how to turn them back.”

“Bingo.”

“And you’re hoping that IMF can come up with an antidote that will restore things back to normal.”

Benji was about to confirm his sentence when a pen hit him in the side of the head. He turned and glared at Brandt, who was trying his best to act innocent. “You know…” he turned back to Luther and calmed his frustration. “As irritating as he is, I think I actually prefer adult Brandt.” The older man laughed at the tech’s comment, resulting in a scowl from the Englishman. Before either of them could say another word, the door opened and Gareth Thompson, right hand man to the new secretary, entered the room. Both Benji and Luther rose to their feet.

“Please, sit.” They did as they were told and waited for Gareth to continue. “They explained the situation to me on the way down. Are these our agents?” he motioned to the children and Benji nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

“Ok. We have the team in the lab working on that substance you got us. Great work in stopping Beckinson, now we just have to figure out what the gas is and how we can reverse it. Until then, I am afraid we have to leave them in your care.” Benji’s jaw dropped at this.

“With respect, sir, I really don’t think I’m qualified to be a dad just yet…” he glanced at the trio who were blissfully unaware of the conversation that was going on.

Thompson turned to Luther. “I would like you to assist Agent Dunn in the care of our agents.” Benji held back a laugh at the reaction this drew from his friend. “We need you both to ensure that they remain safe and out of trouble until we can find a way to change them back.” both agents nodded and stood when Thompson prepared to leave the room. He turned back to them before exiting. “Oh and please see Gerard at the reception on your way out. We are giving you a company budget to provide for the agents until they are restored. Good day, gentlemen.” He smiled at the pair before leaving them.

“Great.” Benji flung his arms into the air as he flopped back into his seat. “It’s not enough to have to watch out for them every day of my life, now I get to play freaking babysitter.” He rested his arms on the table and let his head fall into them with a melodramatic whimper. This was not going to be fun.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

“Are you sure about this?” Benji asked as they pulled up in the parking lot.

“Well, they can’t go round wearing oversized t-shirts, can they?” Luther looked up at the entrance to Target and sighed, opening his door and climbing out. Benji let his head fall forward and smacked it onto the steering wheel with a moan before following suit. Once the children were out of the van, they both looked at Jane. The thought of shopping for girls clothes made both men shudder.

“Toss a coin?” Luther asked. Benji nodded and pulled out the coin.

“Call it.” He flipped the coin in the air, hearing Luther’s claim of heads just before it landed in his hand. Slamming it onto the back of his other hand, they both looked down at the coin.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	4. Chapter 4

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Benji tried to force the sulk from his face as Jane dragged him through the aisles of girl’s clothing. Never before in his _entire life_ had he seen so much pink. He passed an aisle which had a tutu hanging off the end – a tutu!

 _Girls wear those things in daily life too?_ Benji thought, mentally cursing Luther for his winning of the coin toss. He shuddered as he watched Jane look around for something she liked, praying that she’d find something soon.

“Benji!” she tugged on his sleeve and ran over to one aisle, lifting up a blue dress and cardigan. It reminded Benji of what she wore when they were in the Burj Khalifa and he smiled, knowing that despite her being younger, his friend was still there. “Can we get this one?”

“Sure, if that’s the one you want.” He smiled again as she grinned and ran off to choose some shoes to match.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Luther, meanwhile, was having a bit more fun than his friend, helping the boys pick out their own outfits. Ethan had gone for a red t-shirt that had a picture of Lightening McQueen on, much to his dismay. Deep down he hated Cars, but it was the only one he remotely liked. Brandt, on the other hand, had gone for a black t-shirt with an image of a man holding a bow and arrow.

“Who on earth is that?” Luther asked, staring at the purple-clad superhero.

“It’s Hawkeye…” Brandt said, matter-of-factly. “Only the best superhero out there! Plus, he would kick all the other Avengers asses!” he spoke a little too loud on the sentence, causing a young mother nearby to glare at Luther before grabbing her son’s hand and walking off, wearing a disgusted look on her face.

“Ok, Brandt, but you can’t use that sort of language now, right? You’re five, remember.” Brandt sighed at Luther’s comment and rolled his eyes.

“Fine. But I still mean it. Hawkeye is the best.” He grumbled, clutching the shirt in his arms.

“I think Iron man is way cooler.” Ethan chimed in, causing Luther to turn sharply to him.

“Please don’t wind him up, Ethan.”

“Sorry…” he began to sulk slightly. Luther was beginning to wonder if he really should have offered to take Jane instead.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Half an hour later, Luther exited the shop to find Benji waiting for him. Next to him was Jane wearing her new outfit and a smile on her face.

“Someone’s happy.” He said as they approached. Benji looked at the two boys and grinned.

“Well, she was like a kid in a candy store in there.” He replied, noticing Brandt’s shirt. “Hey, Hawkeye! He’s awesome!”

Brandt threw Ethan an ‘I told you so’ glance which was rewarded with the other boy sticking his tongue out.

“Alright, guys and girl, let’s get moving.” Luther said, as he finished installing the car seats in the back.

“You mean I have to be strapped into one of those things?”

Benji sighed and turned to Brandt. “Yes, William. Now do as you’re told.” When the boy began to sulk again, the tech began to think he could get used to this bossing Brandt around. Climbing back into the driver’s seat, he waited for Luther to finish securing the team and join him in the front before pulling out of the car park.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

They pulled up in their new apartment, which IMF had arranged for them, and made their way up. It was a nice place with more rooms; Benji wanted nothing more than to fall over and go to sleep. But he had to head out and buy some food for the kids. With a wave, he left Luther to look after them and headed back down to the van. The drive was unusually silent; he had to admit, he had become almost used to the sound of three fighting children in the back. He hoped that they could change them back soon, though; he wasn’t cut out to be a father figure just yet. His old school mate had made him godfather of his daughter a few years back and that was enough for him. The only real advantage he would get out of walking around with children at this point in time would be the fact that ladies seemed to flock when there’s kids involved. He’d seen it happen in movies; a man brings out a child and BAM, he becomes way more appealing. But real life wasn’t always like the movies, as Benji and his friends frequently found out.

Sighing, he pulled into the parking lot of the store and made his way inside, grabbing a trolley on the way. He walked along the aisles and felt his stomach drop.

What did toddlers eat?

 _Shit… I’m so not cut out for this…_

Taking in a deep breath, he slowly began to walk along the store, praying he would figure it out. He doubted their taste buds would be tantalised by the things they ate as adults. Why was this so confusing? Finding an aisle filled with children’s food, he lifted up a box of biscuits and studied it; aware of how idiotic he must have looked but not really caring.

“New father?” a voice broke Benji from his trance. He turned to see a young woman standing nearby. He had a trolley in front of her; sitting in it was a small baby.

“Heh…” he didn’t really know what to say. “Sorta… looking after some friends… kids…” he corrected himself and mentally kicked his own arse. She smiled at him and pushed the trolley a little closer. “Is it that obvious?”

“Only to someone who has two of her own. Maybe I can help. How old are they?”

 _Good question._ “Uh, about 5.”

“Ok, that’s a start.” She gave a laugh at his lack of knowledge and grabbed a box from the shelf. “I give these to my toddler, she loves them.” Placing them in Benji’s hand, she pulled something else from a nearby shelf. “This spread is a winner for sandwiches too.”

“Wow, thanks.” Benji grinned at the woman, who blushed a little. “Uh, any cereal recommendations?”

“Follow me.” She winked and the pair made their way to the breakfast aisle.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Once Benji had placed all of his items on the register convey belt, he turned to the woman and smiled.

“Thank you, Ms…” he held out his hand to shake it. She grabbed it welcomingly.

“Louise.”

“Benji.” he let his hand drop as she returned his smile.

“Well, you’re very welcome, Benji.” She turned to leave. “Good luck!” with that, she disappeared down another aisle. Benji sighed and couldn’t help the grin that was plastered over his face. Once the groceries were paid for, he made his way outside to the van. Squeezing past the other van which had parked right next to him, he cursed as he tried not to scratch either vehicle’s paintwork; he didn’t need an angry van owner after him. Reaching the back, he opened the doors and began placing the items inside, feeling rather accomplished.

As he reached to shut the doors, however, he felt a hand slam down over his mouth and a sharp prick in his neck. As his world began to swim, he felt himself falling, only to be grabbed by the stranger’s strong arms before everything went black.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	5. Chapter 5

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Benji began to stir and found that he was lying on a hard floor – felt a bit like concrete. His head was killing him and he felt sick. What the hell was going on? First his teammates get magically turned into children and now he’s abducted in broad daylight. Surely it couldn’t be coincidence. As he was able to adjust to his new surroundings, he found that whoever had taken him hadn’t tied him up. Opening his eyes, he looked around, taking in where he was. It seemed to be some sort of warehouse or something of the like; the room was big and dimly lit, however the light was breaking through some of the wood that covered the broken windows. 

He could easily escape from here, so why leave him untied? 

He slowly propped himself up onto his elbows to get a better look around but froze when he heard voices. 

_“I hope this works, man…” ___

_“Well, maybe he’ll understand.” ___

_“And maybe he’ll flip out and fight us. We don’t know.” ___

It was two men talking and Benji assumed that the ‘he’ they were referring to was him. What on earth were they talking about?

_“Let’s just go in there and get this over and done with.” ___

Benji’s eyes widened when he heard that; what were they going to do? Benji decided to try and fool them. If they were planning on doing something to him, he wasn’t going down without a fight. He heard footsteps getting closer and immediately flopped back down to give the illusion of unconsciousness and waited.

“He’s still out.” One man said as they got closer. 

“Well, wake him up.” The second sounded as if he was right next to him now. When Benji felt two hands grab his arms, he made his move. Lifting his leg up, he kicked out at the man, catching his stomach and sending him tumbling backwards. He then jumped to his feet and rushed the man, throwing a punch which unfortunately missed its target. He suddenly felt the rough, strong hands of the second man grab his arms and pin them behind his back.

“Hey! Get off me!” Benji yelled, struggling against the resilient grip with little success. He felt the man adjust his hold on his arms so that one muscular arm was wrapped underneath and around Benji’s own, keeping them tightly in place while he let the other one come up and a hand was clamped down over the technician’s mouth. 

“Easy there.” The man spoke directly into Benji’s ear, his hot breath causing Benji’s own breathing to become rapid and panicked beneath the hand. He mumbled something that was meant to be something along the lines of ‘let me go’ into the hand, but his cry was lost somewhere in the palm covering his mouth. He tried once more to break free from the hold but it was no use; he let himself go limp and waited for whatever was about to happen. “Calm down. We’re not gonna hurt you. Ok?” Benji’s brow furrowed at this. Kidnappers who didn’t want to hurt him? That’d be a first. “Now I’m gonna remove my hand and let you go. Do you promise to not yell or fight if we promise to not hurt you?” Benji was wary, but decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. He nodded his head and moments later, the hand disappeared and he felt his arms released. Rubbing his aching shoulders, he turned to look at the man who had been holding him. He was about six foot tall, was rather muscular and was balding. He did look like a stereotypical kidnapper, however he was so far keeping his word. 

He then looked to the second man, the one he had tried to attack. This man was slightly smaller and more fragile, his dirty blonde hair flopping into his eyes which looked tired. 

“What do you want with me?” Benji asked, finally brave enough to speak again. 

“We want to warn you.” The bald man said, taking a step towards him. Benji, in turn, instinctively took a step backwards. The man may have promised not to hurt him, but Benji had had his fair share of experiences with people who didn’t keep their word. 

“Warn me?” the technician was confused. “You want to warn me about something and decide to grab me off the street like some crazy person?”

“I agree, our technique wasn’t the best…” the blonde man spoke up. “But it was our only way of getting to talk to you.”

“Ever heard of just asking?” Benji retorted, raising his eyebrows. 

“If two strange men in a van approached you and asked you to get in for a talk, would you?” 

Benji thought on the man’s comment. “Touché… So what is it you want to warn me about?”

“Your teammates.” The bald man took over the conversation again. 

“My teammates? What about them?” 

“We understand that they inhaled some sort of substance yesterday that has had some… alarming results.”

“How did you know that?”

“We used to work for Beckinson. We have been working on that substance for the past twelve months.” This revelation made Benji feel even more uncomfortable; if these men worked for the scientist who they killed yesterday, he might be in some serious trouble. But then again, they swore to not hurt him… The man continued. “When we found out what he was planning on using the substance for, we wanted out. We didn’t wanna be a part of something like that. But he told us that it was either keep working for him, or he’d arrange to have our families killed. We had to stay there. It was only when we found out that your team got rid of him yesterday that we were finally able to be free from it all.” 

“What do you know about the substance?” Benji enquired. 

“Well, it was intended to kill people. Beckinson was planning on releasing it through air vents across America in a bogus terrorist attack. He hoped for it to start up a war between the US and an unspecified country, using the distraction as a way to start up a mutiny across the states.” The reality of what the man had said, mixed with the effects of the sedative used on him, caused Benji to momentarily forget how to breathe. When he staggered a bit on his feet, the man reached out for him. “Whoa, are you ok there?” he asked, glancing to his partner. “How much did you use?” the blonde man shook his head as Benji dropped to his knees in an attempt to get his breath back. He didn’t need to concentrate on standing anymore, one less thing to worry about. 

“It’s ok, I’m ok…” Benji swallowed as he nodded. “I take it that wasn’t part of the plan for the substance then?”

“What, the turning people into children? No, that must be a side effect of it.” 

“Wait.” Benji’s head shot up. “So if the whole turning into children thing is only a side effect, are you telling me that my friends are going to die?” the tech’s breathing picked up again as he took in what the man was saying. 

“I’m afraid so. We’re not sure how long they have before the symptoms start kicking in, but that’s why we had to warn you.” It all made sense now. 

“So what happens now?” Benji asked, watching as the man pulled out an envelope and held it out for him. 

“In here is the formula for the compound your friends inhaled, along with our progress notes for the antidote.”

“You were working on an antidote?” Benji tilted his head to the side as he took the envelope and turned it over in his hands.

“Well if we couldn’t leave and couldn’t stop Beckinson, we figured the least we could do was figure out how to reverse the effects.” The blonde man spoke up again. “We were working on it up until yesterday. It’s not complete, but it’s a start. We figured maybe you could get it to your labs and they might be able to figure it out.” 

Benji nodded, glancing down at the envelope. “How do I know I can trust you?”

“You don’t.” the bald man replied. “But what choice do you have?” 

Benji acknowledged what the man had said before attempting to get to his feet once more. He was stopped by the bald man, who raised his hands.

“Wait, you might wanna stay seated for this?” 

“For what?” Benji asked, not noticing the blonde man having circled around to behind him and pulled out a syringe. He felt the familiar jab in his neck and his senses once again began to slip away. As his vision blurred, he saw the man reach out to grab the back of his head, leading him gently onto the ground.

“Good luck.” The man’s voice sounded as if it was under water and once the drug finally took hold, Benji gave in and closed his eyes. 

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

When Benji finally came to, he realised that he was sitting in the driver’s seat of the team’s van, back in the parking lot of the grocery store. Blinking away the last bits of unconsciousness, he soon remembered his conversation with the two men. He quickly began to check his pockets and sighed with relief when his hands closed around the envelope they had given him. Tapping it twice on the steering wheel as he thought over what the men had told him, he slid it back into his pocket before starting the engine and driving back to the apartment. 

He needed to tell Luther and IMF about this. 

He wouldn’t let his teammates die. 

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	6. Chapter 6

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Benji rushed into the apartment, his heart racing as he looked around for his team. 

“Luther?” he called his friend’s name and was relieved when he saw the other agent appear in the doorway of the bathroom. 

“Hey, man, where’ve you been? It’s nine o’clock, for crying out loud.” 

“Long story, where are they?” 

“Jane and Ethan are in bed, Brandt had a little accident.” Benji tried to fight the smirk when he saw Will’s sheepish face appear around the corner. 

“So you remember how to use your attitude but you can’t remember how to use that? Nice, dude.” Brandt gave the man daggers before Luther turned to him. 

“Go get back into bed, ok?” when the boy nodded and ran into the bedroom, Luther approached the younger agent. “Are you ok? You look like you just saw a ghost.”

“Yeah, well I’d rather that.” Benji caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and realised just how white his face had gone; his eyes were tired and dark from what he had just been through. “I need to sit down.” 

“Ok.” Luther put his hand on Benji’s shoulder and led him to the couch. “Tell me what happened.” Benji explained everything, from when he was grabbed in the parking lot, to waking up in the warehouse, the entire conversation with Beckinson’s men up to when he was returned to his van. Luther stared at him in shock. “And you’re sure these guys aren’t having a joke?”

Benji shook his head. “Somehow I think that if they went as far as to abduct me from a car park in broad daylight just to tell me this, it must be the truth.”

“Jesus…” Luther rubbed his chin and shook his head, trying to come to terms with what they now faced. “Do you still have the envelope?”

“No, I threw it out. Of course I have.” Benji reached into his jacket and pulled out the white item, handing it to his friend. The older man opened it up and began to read the writing on it. 

“We need to get this to IMF right away.” Luther looked up from the papers. “I’ll go, you stay here with the team, keep an eye on them and get some rest. You could seriously use some after what you’ve been through.” Benji nodded and watched as Luther rose to his feet and shuffled about the apartment before heading to the door. “I’ll be back later. Call me if anything happens.” 

“Will do. Good luck.” Benji smiled as his friend nodded and disappeared through the door. Once he was alone, he sighed, rubbing his face with his hands as he felt the emotions of the day rush to him in one fell swoop. They had to figure this out before anything happened. He had let them down in Dubai, nearly getting himself and Jane killed, he didn’t want to feel like a failure again. He had to save his team. Slowly standing, he walked across the apartment on weary legs, making his way to the room his team were in. Silently opening the door, he glanced inside, seeing Ethan and Jane sound asleep on their beds. When his eyes fell on Brandt’s bed, he saw the boy sitting upright on his bed hugging a pillow. Benji sighed before tip-toing across the room to his friend.

“Hey.” He perched himself on the edge of the bed. “You ok?” Brandt shook his head. 

“I had a nightmare.” He shifted on the spot so he could cross his legs. “I hate being a kid.”

“I know, man, but we’re gonna get you back to normal as soon as possible, ok?” Benji patted him on the head. He knew it would be demeaning if it weren’t in this situation, with Brandt being older than Benji, however this was different. 

“You look worried.” Brandt studied Benji’s face, noticing the bags under his eyes before the child’s blue-green orbs locked onto the slight red smudge on the technician’s neck from the syringe. He lifted a small hand up to gently poke it. “What happened? Did someone hurt you? Cos I’ll kick their ass if they did.” 

Benji laughed quietly, grabbing Brandt’s hand and pulling it back down. “I’m fine, Brandt. But thanks for the offer.”

“’K.” came the small response.

“You think you can get back to sleep?” when Brandt shook his head, Benji stood up. “Come on then. You can sit with me for a bit.” The boy jumped off the bed and the pair headed into the living room, sitting down on the sofa as Benji turned on the TV. “Not long, ok?”

“M’k.” the sleep reply was mixed with a yawn as Brandt snuggled into Benji’s side. The technician smiled at his friend and put his arm around him, letting him use him as a pillow. It felt so strange sitting like this with his best friend, but at the same time, it felt nice. His team were always looking out for him, but now it was his turn to return the favour. He heard Brandt’s breathing alter as he fell back to sleep and Benji settled himself down a bit, resting his head on the back of the sofa. Silence occupied the room again and Benji let out a sigh, closing his eyes as he let sleep take hold. 

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	7. Chapter 7

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

A faint buzzing in the distance was the first thing Benji registered. After forcing himself to open his eyes – which blatantly refused to do so at first – he glanced around and noticed that it was still dark. A quick check of his watch told him it was 2:30am and he soon realised that the buzzing was his phone. Who was calling him at this time? Looking down, he saw that Brandt was still fast asleep next to him, so he grabbed the small boy gently and moved, slowly lowering him back to the sofa as he stood up. Reaching for the table, he grabbed his phone and saw the caller ID. 

“Luther?”

_“Hey Benj. How are they?” ___

“Sleeping, is everything ok?”

_“Well we may have some good news.” _Benji switched the phone to his other hand as he waited for Luther to go on.__

_“The guys down in the lab seemed to understand the formula and also the one that those men were working on. They’ve managed to put something together that might work.” ___

“Might?” Benji asked. “I feel like we’re gonna need a little better than ‘might’, Luth-” the technician cut himself off when he heard something from the bedroom. 

_“Benji?”_

“Hold on a second.” He made his way across to the room Ethan and Jane were in and the noise got clearer. Someone was coughing. When he opened the door, he saw Ethan sitting up in his bed, hand covering his mouth as he coughed. “Ethan, you ok?” as he asked, the boy brought his hand down from his mouth and Benji’s worst fears were realised. At the corners of Ethan’s mouth was blood. “Uh, scrap what I just said, Luther. We’re on our way.” Hanging up the phone, he quickly checked Jane. Her breathing was quite rapid and erratic. He placed a hand on her forehead and the heat projecting from it caused his heart to race. “Jane?” the small girl opened her eyes. 

“Benji? I don’t feel good.” 

“I know sweetheart, but we’re gonna sort it out, ok?” when she nodded, he lifted her into his arms and then moved to Ethan, whose coughing had subsided slightly. “You ready for a drive, Ethan?” 

Once he had managed to get Ethan out of the bed, he rushed back into the living area and found Brandt sitting up rubbing his eyes. 

“Benji…” he spoke quietly.

“Yeah, buddy?” Benji approached him and felt his forehead. Just as he suspected. Way too hot. “Alright, guys. We’re gonna go to IMF, ok? Luther thinks they might have a way to get you back to normal. You ready?” when Brandt nodded, he helped him jump off the sofa and made their way to the door. Jane was still in his arms as he walked and he twisted his neck every five seconds to check on the boys, who were following close behind. They quickly reached the van and after securing the children into their seats, Benji jumped in and started the engine. 

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Benji’s heart was racing as he made his way to IMF headquarters; every set of traffic lights seemed to be against him. Checking in the rear view mirror, he saw that the kids were still not in the best of conditions, causing him to panic even more. Turning another corner, he knew he wasn’t far now. 

“We’re almost there guys! I can see IMF now. Just hold ok, ok? We’re almost th-” Benji was cut off when there was a loud crash. Someone had ran a stop sign and clipped the front of the van, causing it to twist and flip, hitting the roof before landing back on its wheels and coming to a stop when the front end hit a wall. 

The children were screaming, Benji’s head was throbbing and he could feel the sticky blood produced by his head wound running down the side of his face. He knew unconsciousness was closing in, but he had to get the team to IMF. With pain absorbing every move, he reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The screen was smashed, but it still worked. He dialled the number, leaving bloodied fingerprints on the screen as he did. 

“Luther…” his voice was weak.

_“Benji? Are you alright?” ___

“Crashed…. Just down the road… you need to come… get the kids…” he could feel the darkness tugging at the edges of his senses as he spoke, his head swimming as he tried to fight it. “Hurry…”

His arm went limp and the phone tumbled from his hand, landing on the floor with a clatter as his head lulled forward, his eyes closed and he gave in to the appealing pull of unconsciousness. All that could be heard was cries from the back of the van and the frantic voice from the phone’s earpiece.

_“Benji!” ___

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	8. Chapter 8

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Luther heard Benji’s words and his stomach dropped. “Benji!” his friend’s voice disappeared and all he could hear was crying from their team in the background. He had to get to them. Benji said they were just down the road; hopefully he would be able to see people responding to the crash straight away. He called upon a few other agents to help and the group ran out to rescue their friends. 

Luther immediately knew he was right when he saw the commotion only a few hundred yards away from IMF. They picked up the pace and reached the car in an instant. 

“Get the kids, in the back. Take them to HQ.” he ordered the others, watching them yank open the back doors with some difficulty. He heard the team being pulled out and saw that they were all relatively uninjured; he was so glad they’d bought those child-seats. He rushed to the driver’s side and saw Benji. Blood dripped down the left side of his face and his nose was bleeding. After a few moments of struggle, he managed to pull the damaged door towards him and bent down to check his friend wasn’t trapped. Thankfully, he couldn’t see anything pinning the younger agent in, so after unbuckling the seatbelt, he gently scooped him into his arms. He knew that the emergency services would be there soon; however he had a feeling that the van was going to clear itself up within a few moments. Yelling to some people who had gathered around the vehicle, he warned them to get back; he was relieved that it was so early in the morning, because if it had been daytime, there would have been a lot more people to witness the pending explosion. Once the civilians had moved far back, he picked up the pace, running as fast as he could without dropping Benji. He soon reached the building and moments later, felt the ground shake. Spinning round, he saw flames and smoke engulfing the space where they had just been. With a sigh, he looked down at the agent in his arms; he was still out for the count and definitely needed that head wound looking at. Entering the building, he saw people rushing about, fretting over the explosion that just occurred. 

“I need some help here!” he shouting, managing to get a woman’s attention. 

“Sir?” 

“Agent Dunn was injured in the crash; I need to get him to a room where he can be looked after. Any suggestions?” the young woman looked at Benji’s limp form for a moment before taking a deep breath.

“This way.” 

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Luther stood in the hall, watching as one of IMF’s doctors checked over Benji in the room. His head wound had been tended to and the blood had been wiped from his nose, however he remained unconscious. He stood, arms folded across his chest, one bent up so he could chew on his fingernails. He was so glad that Benji hadn’t lost consciousness immediately; he didn’t want to think what would have happened if he had. 

“Luther?” a voice broke him out of his thoughts and he turned to see one of the team who had been working on the antidote. 

“How did it go?” 

“Well we’ve injected them with the new substance and they’re now getting some sleep. How is Agent Dunn?” 

“Recovering.” Luther turned back to Benji as the doctor exited the room. 

“Agent Dunn suffered a severe concussion in the accident, but other than that, injuries are merely cosmetic. I’ve given him a sedative so he can rest; he shouldn’t wake until the morning so there is no use hanging around.”

“Thanks, doc.” Luther smiled as the man left and gave Benji one last glance before heading off himself. 

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Brandt’s head hurt. That was the first thing he knew for sure. The second was that he really shouldn’t have sat up as quick as he just did. 

“Ow, ow, ow, ow…” he gripped his head in his hands and took a moment to breathe before doing anything else. He kept his eyes closed, listening to the sounds of people walking by. 

“Ah, Agent Brandt, nice of you to join us.” A man’s voice drifted into his head and he opened his eyes to see Luther standing near him. 

“What the hell happened?”

“Well, what do you remember?” Luther sat on a chair near the bed he lay in. 

“Well… we were at that guy’s lab, stopping him making his substance…” he tried hard to remember. “I remember getting stabbed in the hand… We went back to the apartment and I went to sleep.”

“After that?”

“I woke up here.” Brandt blinked a few times, looking down at the bandage on his hand. “Why exactly does my head hurt so much?” Luther took in a deep breath, not really knowing what to say before he was interrupted by a knock on the door. 

“Hey, you’re awake.” Jane and Ethan appeared and made their way in. Luther turned to them. 

“Hey, guys, do you remember anything other than finishing the mission and waking up here?”

Ethan shook his head. “Can’t say I do.”

“Why? Is there something we should remember?” Jane asked, tilting her head in confusion. 

Luther wasn’t sure whether to tell them or not. Maybe it was a blessing for them that they didn’t remember. Or maybe he should just let Benji explain. He decided to go with the latter and stood from his chair. “Follow me.” 

The group walked down the hall until they reached the room that Benji was sleeping in. Jane gasped slightly when she took in his state. 

“What happened to him?”

“It’s a long story. But I’ll let him explain when he wakes up.” He patted Ethan on the back before leaving the trio with their sleeping friend. 

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Benji could hear familiar voices drifting closer as he began to wake. Shifting slightly, he turned his head to the side and let his eyes open slowly. Three figures sat nearby talking and he had to blink a few times to convince himself that he wasn’t going crazy. There, in front of him, real as anything, was his team. Adult versions.

“Hey Benji.” That was Jane’s _normal voice. ___

“Welcome back, buddy.” Brandt rested his hand – normal sized, not child sized – on his shoulder and smiled.

“I… hi…” Benji wasn’t really sure what to say. “You’re back…”

Brandt gave a small laugh of confusion. “Mind telling us where we’ve been?” 

“Wait… you don’t remember?” Benji couldn’t believe it. What they went through yesterday – what he put up with – and they didn’t remember a damn thing. 

“Mind filling us in and telling us what happened to you?” Ethan asked. 

“Uh…” Benji really didn’t know how to explain what happened. “It doesn’t matter.” He knew that wouldn’t work, he knew that Ethan would pry him for information and maybe he’d eventually explain everything to them, but for now, all that mattered was that his team were back to normal. “Oh, Brandt?” 

“Yep?” 

“You really think Hawkeye is the best Avenger?” 

“Who told you that?” Brandt looked both shocked and embarrassed by Benji’s statement, his cheeks going slightly red at the announcement of his comic-book weakness. 

Benji winked. “Lucky guess.” 

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you have it. I hope it was ok!


End file.
